the book blog for the comfy reader

The Inn at Ocean’s Edge

I just finished this book, and the reason I started reading it was because I am doing a blog tour for the second book in the series and I needed to read the first book, I didn’t think I was going to fall in love with this series as much as I did! The Inn at Ocean’s Edge by Colleen Coble is considered a Christian book, but fear not! it is not rolling in scripture, nor does it really talk about the Christian faith in any more than a passing glance, which I found to be refreshing and very fun to read. Sometimes, I find that with Christian books, the premise is about WWJD, or constant references to the Bible, which I don’t like in a book. I am all for being spiritual, but don’t shove it down my throat.

I really liked this book because it did none of those things, and it told a great story. If you watch Lifetime movies, or you are really into the drama/mystery genre, this is a great book for you. It follows Claire, who comes back to the shore that she used to go to with her parents when she was a kid. She is on a business trip with her dad so that they can close on a certain business venture that they are really excited about. When she arrives, she feels like she has been to this place before, and memories start coming back to her. That’s when she meets a lady who tells her that she had been lost in the woods for a year, and that was the last time she came to the coast.

Everything just starts to sound shady to Claire, and when she meets a man named Luke, he calls attention to her name and the year she was missing, as well. Since his mother went missing in the same woods and at the same time that Claire went missing, he wants to know if she knew his mother, and if the two mysterious disappearances had anything to do with each other.

Then there is Kate, who knows that Claire’s dad is her real dad, but also knows that she’s been a secret because of an affair that he had with her mother, and Claire’s mother has no idea about it. Kate wants more information about her father, and especially wants to know if Claire could be a bone marrow donor for her, since she has been very sick and it’s the last and final shot she has to save her own life.

Things get pretty crazy from here people, and the lives get twisted, turned, and flipped every which way. I can’t spoil it for you, but when Claire finds out what really happened in the woods when she went missing that day, her whole identity could be in crisis. This book is a must read. The only reason that I am going to give it a 4 out of 5 instead of a 5 out of 5 was because some of the dialogue seemed a little bit boxy and not realistic, other than that I really loved the story line and the characters. Look out for my review of the second book in the series called Mermaid Moon.